1. Technical Field
Exemplary aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to a shutter assembly for opening and closing an outlet of a powder container from which powder is discharged.
2. Description of the Related Art
In known electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, a toner cartridge storing toner and a process unit including image forming components such as a photosensitive drum and a developing roller are constituted as separate units to facilitate replacement and maintenance. Generally, the toner cartridge includes an outlet from which toner inside thereof is discharged when supplying toner. The outlet is formed detachably attachable relative to an inlet provided to the process unit. When removing the toner cartridge from the process unit, the toner is spilled from the outlet of the toner cartridge. In view of this, a known toner cartridge is provided with a shutter to prevent the toner from leaking from the outlet. Furthermore, to prevent toner leakage more reliably, in one approach, two shutters are provided.
Although advantageous, when employing two shutters such as an internal shutter and an external shutter that open and close independently, only the internal shutter may accidentally open upon replacement of the toner cartridge. If the internal shutter is opened while the external shutter is closed, the toner leaked from the outlet accumulates between the internal shutter and the external shutter. When the external shutter opens in this state, the accumulated toner between these shutters is spilled out, causing contamination of the toner cartridge and hands of users and technicians, hence complicating replacement of the toner cartridge. Such spilled toner may also stick to devices in the image forming apparatus, causing errors during operation.